Simona Halep vs Carla Suarez Navarro [20] – this was a tough one as both ladies are playing really well

Varvara Lepchenko[29] vs Mirjana Lucic-Baroni – when Lucic is on she is devastating. this will be a battle

Eugenie Bouchard vs Tsvetana Pironkova – Bouchard has been playing great tennis recently. Should be a good one

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova vs Bojana Jovanovski – this will be a battle to the death or an easy victory for the Serb

Jie Zheng vs Vesna Dolonc – Zheng has been having good results on the clay

Tatjana Maria vs Paula Ormachaea – have not seen the young Argentine since the USO qualies last year. Should be a good battle

Madison Keys vs Misaki Doi – Keys in straights

Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Ekaterina Makarova – this was a tough one as Sveta should have great memories of her victory here

Pauline Parmentier vs Magdalena Rybarikova – again, another tough one but the French woman will prevail

Karin Knapp vs Sloane Stephens [17] – has Sloane got her head sorted out? We will see

Jana Cepelova vs Christina McHale – Same for McHale? is she healthy?

Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor vs Julia Glushko – the young Spaniard impressed recently in Madrid, losing a tough 3 setter. Look for her to play lights out here in Paris

Karolina Pliskova vs Garbine Muguruza – the young Spaniard has impressed everyone with her fight on hard courts. She was beaten handily by Sharapova in Rome recently. Remains to be seen how she does against an opponent who does not have the weapons of Sharapova

Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs Lourdes Dominguez Lino – this is a toss up as BMS has been playing great on clay, however, Lino will frustrate but BMS should be able to come through

Vania King vs Alexandra Cadantu – Vania came through qualifying and is match tough but I just don’t see her getting past Cadantu

Romina Oprandi vs Elina Svitolina – the wily veteran lost a tough 3 setter in Brussels. Look for her to make amends here

Tamira Paszek [28] vs Melanie Oudin – I am shocked that Tamira is ranked that high enough to be actually seeded. I think Oudin takes her out in straights.

The Match that Broke my Heart on Day 1

She served to take a 5-4 lead in the first set and got broken. She was 0-4 down in the second set tiebreak after serving for the second set on 2 occassions and having set points. She was 5-1 down in the third set and stared defeat in the face. She eventually lost the match 5-4 in the third against Ula Radwanska, but today Venus Ebony Starr Williams showed us that when healthy, or even something remotely resembling healthy, it will take a special player to bring her down, and bring her down without a fight.

Those of us who watched the match from beginning to end stood and applauded the shots from both ladies. While I am still upset that she lost, I can only bow down to the younger Radwanska as she never gave up and she continued to fight.

For her part, the veteran holder of 7 Grand Slam singles titles, too many other singles titles to mention, Olympian extraordinaire and fighter of life and tennis in general showed us why the women deserve to be paid equally with the men. For over 3 hours she showed why she is a threat despite not being at her best.

Venus, this fan salutes you. My only hope is that you continue to play until I get to see you on the green lawns of Wimbledon. You did well.